Just saw this marvelous Shakespearean movie — HAMLET — starred and directed by Kenneth Branagh. I am so amazed that the producers agreed to do a full 4-hour version of Shakespeare’s play. Yet it was shown only in very limited number of theaters. I didn’t even know it existed until a few days ago.
It is a spectacular adaptation — with great performances by the two Shakespearean actors Branagh and Derek Jacobi, who played Hamlet and Claudius respectively. Nicholas Farrel was fantastic as Horatio. The female actors Julie Christie and Kate Winslet acquitted themselves very well, indeed.
MEL GIBSON’S / FRANCO ZEFIRELLI’S HAMLET
It was just 6 years prior to the release of this film that Franco Zefirelli’s Hamlet (1990) was shown. Zefirelli’s film directorial debut was Taming of the Shrew (1967) that starred Hollywood’s power couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The year later, he directed Romeo and Juliet (1968), which catapulted him to international fame.
Hamlet (1990) was also a box office hit, but it was mainly because of its stars Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, who were both at the peak of their careers. But the critics were not quite happy about the film.
Rotten Tomatoes (RT), the American film review-aggregator website gave it a mere 76% passing rate from the critics and a failing rate (59%) from the audience. On the other hand, the critics gave Branagh’s Hamlet a high 95% rating from the critics and 89% from the audience.
Zefirelli’s first two Shakespeare films were bright and quite spectacular, his Hamlet was quite dark and somber. Branagh’s version was bright and spectacular in spite of its very tragic story.
According to Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus, Zefirelli’s film “may lack some of the depth and complexity of the play, but Mel Gibson and Franco Zeffirelli make a surprisingly successful team.“
On the other hand, RT’s Critics Consensus says: “Kenneth Branagh’s sprawling, finely textured adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece lives up to its source material, using strong performances and a sharp cinematic focus to create a powerfully resonant film that wastes none of its 246 minutes.“
ALL-STAR CAST and CAMEOS
It is usual for Hollywood’s Shakespearean productions to have an all-star cast. They usually get American superstars in the lead like Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando, etc. and ably supported by British actors.
Zefirelli’s Taming of the Shrew had superstars Taylor and Burton but his Romeo and Juliet had unknowns for the lead roles. In his Hamlet, he got superstars Gibson and Close, ably supported by excellent British actors Alan Bates, Paul Scofield, Ian Holm, Stephen Dillane, Nathaniel Parker and Helena Bonham Carter.
The 1996 version had one certifiable star – Branagh. Julie Christie was a huge star in the 1960s and 70s, but her star declined when she practically stopped doing movies during her relationship with Warren Beatty. Like Beatty, she decided she would just do films intermittently.
Derek Jacobi is probably one of the finest Shakespearean actor today, but he was never a Hollywood superstar like Burton, Olivier, O’Toole, Richard Harris or even Kenneth Branagh. Kate Winslet has not made Titanic at that time, and so was quite unknown to most of the world.
Perhaps to attract world-wide audience, Branagh asked Hollywood icons to do cameo roles. Perhaps reciting Shakespearean lines in films is quite a thrill for Hollywood actors. In Hollywood, it is usual to get British actors to do supporting roles or cameos since they are quite cheap and willing to act any role. In this movie, Hollywood icons were asked to do cameos but get a big billing in the theatrical posters.
The great Charlton Heston did very well. But then, he was not unfamiliar with Shakespeare. He starred as Marc Anthony three times – in Julius Caesar (1950), Julius Caesar (1970) and Anthony and Cleopatra (1972), which he directed himself. As the Player King, Heston held his own against Rosemary Harris’s Player Queen. Harris is a veteran British thespian who once played Ophelia when she was young. In 2018-2019, at the age of 90-91 years, she portrayed Mrs. Higgins in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady.
Aside from Heston, Branagh was able to persuade Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and even French movie icon Gerard Depardieu to do cameos for this film.
It’s quite a shame though that two great Shakespearean actors – Sir John Gielgud and Dame Judi Dench – had mere walk-ons, without a single dialogue. Sacré bleu!!! Sir John Mills also had a cameo as the King of Norway. I don’t remember if he even uttered one line. But Mills was more known for his films than for his plays. He was not really a Shakespearean actor.
Incidentally, Michael Maloney played Rosencratz in the Zefirelli film, and got an upgrade in Branagh’s film where he portrayed Laertes.
This is the only unabridged theatrical film version of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s longest play.
Henry V (1989) directed by Branagh, also had the full text of Shakespeare’s play. The same goes with Zefirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. There are less than 10 films that present the whole of Shakespeare’s text.
This film surely ranks as one of the best, if not the best Shakespearean movie of all time.
Postprandial Musings, 2.0 